Eight days of wonderful

Of course, the week leading up to the eight wonderful days was filled with stress and buckets of tears as I said my final goodbyes to my sweet little Winnie. I can’t believe how quiet the house is without her; that will take a lot of time to get used to.

Thankfully, being in Susan Khalje’s Couture Boot Camp kept nearly every one of my brain cells busy for six glorious days. This was my little corner of the world for the week. Robin sat right in front of me. Another week and we would have been finishing each others’ sentences!

Left to right: Louise is a beginner of two years and lives not far from me in Vero Beach. She dove right into the deep end of the pool with a beautiful Marfy sheath dress. In front of her is Jeanne who made a beautiful Alencon lace jacket underlined in charmeuse and then moved on to a linen blouse with a fagotted neckline.

Then we have Diana who made a stunning two-piece dress consisting of a bias camisole with a cowl neckline and a long cascade-ruffled skirt for her daughter’s wedding.

Here we have FIT-trained Kimberly working on a gown of her own design. I’ll never drive by a Starbucks again without thinking of her! Some people run on Dunkin’ and others need a good Green Tea Soy Latte, ya know?

Supermom Anna made a strapless silk charmeuse evening gown for her daughter’s prom (that’s her form – made by Anna, of course!). The gown is stunning as it is but will be hand-beaded later. I get tired just thinking about that!

As if she needs any introduction, here is the adorable Gretchen of Gertie’s Blog for Better Sewing with Best Baster Barb behind her.

The delightful twins, Debby and Dianna. I fell in love with this little Givenchy number from the 1980s. I’ll be making one for myself sometime this year.

Last, but certainly not least, our fearless leader Susan advising Robin on her beautiful guipure lace jacket. Notice Susan’s Million Dollar Suitcase in the background, full of treasures to make you gasp!

As if this wasn’t already more fun than a girl could handle, I came home and had the loveliest weekend in a fitting workshop with two of my students. Fit, fit, fit. Fit, fit, fit. Fit your pattern, fit your pattern. Sing it, KC!

I have to apologize for the terrible quality of my photos. “New camera” has been moved to the very top of my wish list! I simply can’t subject you, my dear readers, to these substandard photos any longer. I still have many more Boot Camp photos to post so stay tuned!

Simplicity 2443 – Part III

This pattern calls for ribbon to be used for the front tie closures. As an exercise in futility I went to JoAnn’s this morning to see, if by chance, they had twill tape that would match. Hahahaha (snort). So, I decided to cut 2″ wide strips of self-fabric on the bias. That worked well but then I had to decide how to finish the ends. Normally, I would either tie a knot or use a cord end or bead. A cord end was out of the question because, with eight ties, that’s a lot of extra weight on one side of a lightweight jacket.

I experimented with knots with raw edges exposed or tucked in and decided it would just be too much. The last option was to tuck in the ends and hand sew them shut. It took awhile but I think it was worth the effort.

I’m going to leave the bodice on the dressform while I begin working on the sleeves. I still have to decide what to do with those welts.

House update: Tile, tile, tile. We are breaking up the 18×18 tiles with 4×4 tumbled marble. Jim says otherwise it ends up looking like a mausoleum (which wouldn’t be nice). I LOVE it and can’t wait to take a shower in here.

Simplicity 2443 – Part II

I just returned from spending the weekend in Dunellon. We were supposed to go up on Valentine’s Day weekend but had to cancel because of the accident. We enjoyed a lovely belated Valentine’s Day dinner with Bryan’s parents on Saturday night and then headed home late yesterday morning.

My asthma is in high gear today so I’ve stayed home but that isn’t preventing me from doing a little sewing. The steam from my iron is good for me, don’t you think?

This is a very easy jacket, really. However, extra care must be taken with all of the details on the front. Namely, making sure that everything matches and lines up properly. A trick I learned from Marta Alto years ago is to lay the fronts on top of each other. This is a foolproof way to make sure everything lines up.

Since this jacket is unlined and linen is so ravelly, I decided to use flat-felled seams whenever possible. The bonus is that flat-felled seams provide nice structure and support to the garment.

I’m pleased with the way the fronts look with the exception of that funky little welt doohickey between the pockets. Honestly, I’m not sure if I want to remove it altogether or replace it with something else.

House update: The first – and most important – row of tiles has gone in. Tomorrow the real work begins.

I have to express my frustration with my mortgage company. When you have a lot of damage to your home, the mortgage company is listed as one of the payees on all checks so they have to sign off before anyone can get paid. And they seem to love taking their sweet time about it! And, to make matters worse, they somehow expect me to make 90% of the repairs with 20% of the money. If I could figure out a way to do that I’d be in high demand on the public speaking circuit, wouldn’t I?

Simplicity 2443

I’m moving on to this adorable little jacket from Cynthia Rowley. It’s unlined and just the thing to wear over a tank this summer. Plus it has lots of little pieces that’ll be perfect to work on in small blocks of time.

Notice the Year of the Jacket ticker in the sidebar. 12 jackets? I hope I can do it!

I am going to work with this beautiful Ellen Tracy linen that I bought at Cynthia’s Fine Fabrics a few years ago.

DAILY (oh, how I love that!) HOUSE PROGRESS:

The plasterer is applying the skim coat as we speak.

The tile chipper has been going all day in my bathroom. Getting this terra cotta tile out has proven to be pretty difficult (how great that I don’t have to do it!) but the demo should be finished tomorrow so the tile man can start on Monday. I want to add another cubby to the shower over the weekend and get a plumber out to do the preliminary work for new faucets.

The window company was also out this morning to measure for the new French doors. You know, I was very apprehensive about letting someone else manage this project for me but now I am so glad I did because things are moving along like clockwork!

Another McCall’s 5984 – Final

It’s been a pretty stressful week and I was glad to have something to work on to take my mind off of everything else. Although at times it was not easy to concentrate with all the noise!

The only thing I still have to take care of are the closures. I didn’t get around to calling Pacific Trimming about snaps and then Els suggested I try buttons. I’ll play around with that tomorrow.

As I mentioned before, I eliminated the inverted pleat at the back. This not only cut down on sewing time but also gives this jacket a different look from the first one. If you do this, don’t forget to add an ease pleat to your lining.

Ordinarily, I would catchstitch the upper and under collar seams together from the inside but this boucle hides stitches so well that I was able to ditch-stitch from the right side.

Again, I added a hanging chain. I wasted so much time yesterday looking for the leftover chain from the first jacket. I remember putting it away but don’t remember where. Last night I finally went back to Michael’s and bought more.

The hole in my house has finally been repaired – yay! Concrete block was laid in the center of the hole and is flanked by rebar-reinforced poured concrete columns. I just love the little funnels attached to the top of the plywood forms.

It looks really good from the inside.

I decided not to redo the cedar closet. It was something that my ex wanted and it will feel nice to have one less bit of him in the house. I need to start looking at closets to get some idea of what to do in here.

I had no trouble picking out new tile. I wanted Travertine but also wanted something really durable and low maintenance. I was thrilled to find this porcelain tile that looks like natural stone so I can have the look without worrying about staining and periodic resealing. I propped it against my tumbled Travertine backsplash and I think it looks amazingly realistic.

My cat Ricki has been completely stressed out since work began on Monday and has been hiding under one bed or another. Kanga, the lady of the house, has been totally pissed off. She just lays on the sofa and tries to put voodoo curses on the workers.

Winnie Whiskers, OTOH, was completely undisturbed by the noise and commotion. She’s so ladylike, isn’t she?

Tomorrow I have to shop for faucets and moldings. I’m thinking of upgrading all of my door casings in the bathroom so I’ll need to get that done before tiling begins.

Merry CHRISTmas?

WARNING: Rant ahead! I don’t do it often but several things have happened this week that have really upset me. This just needs to be said.

My tree’s been up since the first of November, the switch was flipped on my exterior lights before Thanksgiving and I never de-Christmas my house until after Epiphany. I have always loved Christmas and the magic of the holiday season. I wish my Christian friends a Merry Christmas and my Jewish friends a Happy Hannukah. If I’m unsure, Happy Holidays is a safe way to spread cheer, or (gasp) is it? I really do resent being reminded that it’s “Merry CHRISTmas” when I wish someone a Happy Holiday. Since when did Christians have the exlusive right to the month of December? I spent my childhood in parochial school and do not need to be reminded that we are celebrating the birth of Christ. However, apparently some “Christians” need to be reminded that they are not the center of the universe and that there are actually people out there with beliefs different from theirs. According to the dictionary, a Christian is not only a believer in Christ but also “exhibits a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ”. Hmm, it sounds like some people need to dust off their bibles and really think about what this means. Let’s please remember that this country was founded on religious freedom and tolerance. And, most importantly, good manners and graciousness trump all. If someone wishes you a Happy Holiday, please just smile and accept it in the spirit with which it was intended.

Just for you, Ann!

Ann wants to hang ornaments on a real palm tree. Well, here you go, darling, a bit of Christmas cheer from the tropics! But, seriously, it’s 9 p.m. and 85F outside (in the middle of December!) – I’d happily trade it for a few snowflakes. Come to think of it, maybe we should swap house for a week every winter.

My clothes won’t shut up!

For the past few months, I’ve been following the What Did You Wear Today & Why? thread over at Artisan’s Square and have been inspired to try a little harder each and every day. When you live in a hot climate like I do, most of your outfits consist of one (a dress) or two (top/bottom) pieces. I’ve been trying to put together more interesting outfits and to layer and accessorize more. Well, guess what I discovered? Because of this two-piece dressing habit, most of my tops are “speakers” rather than “listeners”! I am in desperate need of basic tops and bottoms so I’ve put aside my other projects so that I can fill this void. It’s not terribly exciting sewing so I probably won’t blog about it until after I’ve finished a few pieces. To start, I’ll need:

*Long or 3/4 sleeved tees in solid brights and neutrals
*Short-sleeved tees in solid brights and neutrals
*Shirts/blouses in light neutrals
*Black pants
*Khaki pants
*Solid skirts in khaki, brown and black
*Skinny jeans in dark indigo and brown
*A jean-style jacket in corduroy

I haven’t sewn much in the past two weeks because I’m trying to get all of my Christmas decorations up. There is still so much to do and, frankly, I’m a little nervous that I won’t complete my exterior illumination before Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day to all of you here in the U.S. – think of all the sewing time we’ll gain over the next week by not having to cook!

Build the outfit #1

As I was getting ready to go out on Saturday night I really wanted to wear these fabulous sandals (which my boyfriend calls stripper shoes – I don’t care, I’ll wear them anyway) and realized that I had only one garment that really went with them – a dress I’d worn last Saturday! How did this happen? So, inspired by Manolo The Shoeblogger’s build the outfit contests I am going to start from the ground up for a change and make a few things to go with the shoes.

My thought is that these are pretty sexy shoes and need something clean, simple and not too bare to keep me from looking like a working girl. What I’ve come up with so far:

Item #1 – White shirtdress: The first one is perfect, the second needs to be a few inches longer

A great pattern to start with is this Threads for Simplicity pattern that I had forgotten was in my stash!

Item #2 – White knee length skirt: LOVE!

Item #3 – White skinny bermuda shorts: LOVE! A definite must-have!

Item #4 – Sundress: the first one would be perfect if it were a few inches longer, the second one has a nice shape but I wouldn’t add the girly details

This forgotten New Look pattern is the perfect base for a sundress! I’ll probably use the strapless version and add tiny spaghetti straps for wearing ease.

Another style that I think is absolutely perfect for these shoes is this Hot Patterns Plain & Simple Iconic Shirtdress. I think this would look fabulous in red because a clingy white knit dress is certainly out of the question!

What do you think? I welcome any and all input!

Does it count if I used my sewing skills?

Sadly, there has been no sewing this weekend as I was bound and determined to get my backsplash tile installed. I’ve had the tile for about a month already and had promised my husband last week that I would hire someone to do the job. But, true to form, I dropped him and my son off at the airport yesterday morning (father/son ski trip) and headed right to Home Depot. This is my first real tile job and I was surprised at how easy it was. Of course, I think we sewers have an advantage because we are good at measuring and fitting things together. The wet saw made me a tiny bit nervous at first but I quickly got the hang of it. As you can see, I had a lot of cuts to make – I only made one error! I guess we sewers are so used to analyzing the pieces of the puzzle, so to speak, that this was a piece of cake.

Today, I will seal the tile and tomorrow I’ll grout (ugh). Then I just have to seal again and reinstall the crown moulding at the tops of the cabinets before having the hood installed (that’s the wiring you see in the photo). I’ll work on the Cha Cha Cha Dress this evening if I’m not too tired.

I really need to improve the view outside my kitchen window!